By John L. Duoba, Toolkit Staff Writer
Article From Business Owner's Toolkit

If you hire people who work for you, the federal government has changed the procedures by which employers legally confirm potential employees' eligibility to work under employment and immigration laws. Failure to follow these new rules could result in employer penalties.

By December 26, 2007, all employers must start using the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, and M-274, Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9. These procedures are used to verify the employment eligibility of employees hired after November 6, 1986, in order to prove that their identities match their work authorization documents.

On November 7, DHS's immigration services bureau, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), announced the availability of the revised Form I-9 with a revision date of June 5, 2007, which is printed as "(Rev. 06/05/07)N" on the lower right corner of the form.

The revised Form I-9 contains an updated list of acceptable identity and employment authorization documents that comply with the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which reduced the number of documents employers may accept from newly hired employees during the employment eligibility verification process.
Enforced by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the new rules warn that employers failing to use the revised Form I-9 will incur severe fines and penalties for noncompliance.

Be sure to familiarize yourself with the new I-9 rules in the Handbook and obtain an adequate supply of the new forms before the December 26 deadline.

© Copyright 2007, Business Owner's Toolkit. All Rights Reserved